Obama launches new job push

UNITED STATES President Barack Obama has pledged US$50 billion dollars to create jobs in a massive transportation infrastructure campaign, targeting huge unemployment and ripping resurgent Republicans.

Obama, under intense pressure to stimulate the sputtering economy ahead of November's mid-term congressional elections, announced the new funding spree to rebuild roads, railways and airports at a Labor Day rally Monday with union workers in the state of Wisconsin, where the crisis has hit hard.

"This will not only create jobs immediately, but will make our economy run better over the long haul," Obama said on a public holiday two months before congressional polls which Democrats fear could bring heavy losses.

"It's a plan that says even in the aftermath of the worst recession in our lifetimes, America can still shape our own destiny."

The White House called on Republicans to support swift passage of the measure, which would "front-load" US$50 billion of money as the first part of a broader effort to reauthorise transportation funding over six years.

It appeared highly uncertain whether legislation of such size and cost could pass in the month or so before lawmakers leave Washington to campaign for the November 2 election, as polls predict big Republican gains.

And as Obama laid out details of what critics decry as yet another bloated stimulus package, there was growing evidence Tuesday that an increasing number of Americans may want Republicans in Congress to take the reins when it comes to handling the economy.

A new poll Tuesday show Americans feel Republicans may be able to handle the economy better than Democrats.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey showed 46 per cent of respondents saying Republicans were better poised to handle the number one US domestic issue, compared to 43 per cent who said Democrats were — a far cry from a year ago when Democrats held a 52-39 per cent advantage.

And Republicans were given a six-point advantage over Democrats on tackling the soaring budget deficit, which the White House has consistently said is a result of the previous Republican administration of George W Bush.

The poll conducted earlier this month has a three-percent margin of error. The overall plan targets improvements to the US air traffic control system, an acceleration of high-speed rail projects, and establishes an "Infrastructure Bank" to coordinate federal funding and planning for projects.

It calls for the rebuilding or restoring of roads; adding 6,400km of rail and renewing 240km of runway. Opposition Republicans, seeking to wrest control of both chambers of Congress from Democrats, immediately condemned Obama's plan, signaling no let up to obstruction tactics which have slowed his presidency.

"A last-minute, cobbled-together stimulus bill with more than US$50 billion in new tax hikes will not reverse the complete lack of confidence Americans have in Washington Democrats' ability to help this economy," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

John Boehner, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, sought to link the new plan to Obama's previous stimulus package worth around 800 billion dollars, which critics say has failed to revive the economy. "If we've learned anything from the past 18 months, it's that we can't spend our way to prosperity," said Boehner.

Obama, however, sought to convince voters that if they captured Congress, Republicans would return to the age of a reckless Wall Street, tax cuts for the rich and lax regulation that provoked the crisis.

AFP